DCU Comic Book Reviews

JUSTICE SOCIETY of AMERICA #30

Hot Pursuit

October 2009

Written by Bill Willingham and Matthew Sturges

Pencils by Jesus Merino

Inks by Jesus Merino

Cover by Jesus Merino

Synopsis

The Justice Society was lured into an ambush by an army of criminal metas and soundly defeated by an enemy that was specifically trained to take them on.  Now, all that is standing is the Flash and Stargirl.  The Flash runs away and then returns with Dr. Fate.  Cowed by the power of Dr. Fate, and not tasked to deal with him, the villains are uncertain what to do.  That moment of uncertainty allows the rest of the Justice Society to regroup.  The villains run away.  Magog wants to chase after them.  However, the team is not getting a signal back at headquarters.  Some want to go back and check on Mr. Terrific.  Power Girl decides to split the team in half, with some chasing the villains and others returning to headquarters.  When they get there, they find Mr. Terrific on the floor, bleeding profusely.  Dr. Mid-Nite immediately prepares for surgery.  Later, the team discusses recent events.  Magog thinks the team needs stronger military guidance and training.  Wildcat disagrees.  They are not soldiers, but heroes.  Magog thinks they should be heroes.  Wildcat disagrees and decides to pummel Magog.   

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

I was really digging this issue until the ending with the verbal (and then physical) fight between Wildcat and Magog.  It felt forced, as if the writers were looking for something that would split the team into two different factions.  The fact that I have heard that another Justice Society book is in the offering makes it that much worse.  It feels less like an organic part of the story and more like forced editorial or writer meddling in order to get to the beginning of the division that will see the team split into two to accommodate the two books.  However, I should back up a little bit.  I liked the set-up, with Magog wanting to go after the villains while others wanting to go back to the Brownstone.  That argument made sense and I liked the way Power Girl settled the issue and the team went about their business.  I even liked the way, later in the issue, the writers revisited the events of the day, including Magog’s suggestion that they were uncoordinated and unprepared for what had happened to the team.  All of that was handled well and made sense to me.  It looked as if we might get a good discussion on the value or preparation and leadership in battle.  But it didn’t go that way.  Instead, the issue fell down for me on the final page or so, with the older veterans arguing with Magog and then the heated exchange with Wildcat.  It essentially came down to name calling:  “you’re old” to “you don’t have the experience.”  That felt artificial, as if the writers were pushing the characters in a certain way to get to a certain point.  Hopefully, there won’t actually be a fight and cooler heads will prevail next issue and we’ll get a genuine discussion rather than something that I think was created just to provide a cliffhanger. 

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